Land of the Riesling Sun

From sushi to spring rolls, thai curry to tandoori, Asian cuisine has fully established itself as a favourite in the UK. But while the chefs are carefully blending spices to create unique mouthwatering dishes, rarely do we pay them the compliment of choosing a wine that best matches our favourite flavours.

As Alsace wines are appetisingly fresh and aromatic, with a notable clarity of fruit and good acidity they are spot on to go with spicy, salty, sweet and sour flavours found in Asian dishes. Most people tend to think of a beer with their Asian food, or if they do think of buying a wine to drink with it, the idea that a wine can compliment a spice seems rather odd, but far from it. In fact the right grape variety can add to a home delivered (or home cooked!) Asian meal.

TV chef Ching He Huang and leading wine journalist and food and wine matching expert Joanna Simon will be joining us for a live webchat, where they’ll be offering guidance on which wines bring out the best in each Asian dish; from the fruity, floral tastes of the more elegant Alsace wines such as Riesling through to luscious or spicy whites like Pinot Gris or Gewurztraminer.

Ching He Huang and Joanna Simon join us live online on Friday 18th June at 13.00 to demonstrate how Alsace wines can compliment Asian food.

H: Hello and welcome to Taste Talk, I’m Murray Norton. Now when it comes to selecting a bottle of wine everyone knows that the vineyards of France produce some of the finest wines in the world. The French quite literally have been mastering the art of wine making for many, many a century. In fact many of the new world wine producers often try to emulate the flavours and the characteristics, which simply come naturally to the French. Now one of the most famous grape-growing areas is the Alsace region, a region that produces some 150 million bottles a year, and I’m delighted to say, well down here we’ve got a few bottles of our own to taste today. We’re not just talking wine today on Taste Talk, I’m joined in the studio by wine journalist Joanna Simon and also to offer up some ideas on food pairings to go with the wines, is TV chef Ching He Huang. Nice to have you both with us, welcome along to both of you. Let’s take a quick look at what’s coming up in today’s show. An introduction into Alsace wines. We’ll also be matching Alsace wines with Asian food and all of your questions will be answered as well. So all of that to come up. Now first of all Joanna, just tell us a little bit about the Alsace region – where is it, how much does it produce, what’s so special about it?

B: Well it’s one of the northernmost regions of France but it’s very sunny and warm. It’s right over in the east, north east, so head to Paris and then just keep going east, you’ll get there. Go over the Vosges, then you’re there. In the foothills of the Vosges, just before the border, you’ve got the Rhine on the other side, the river on the other side and it’s those things that keep it dry, warm, sunny and this has this wonderful effect on the wine, it produces all this lovely fruit and freshness

H: As usual it’s the geographical location, along with soil climate that really that’s what gives the wine its flavour

B: Absolutely and of course in Alsace you’ve got so many different kinds of soils. I couldn\'t even begin to say this is the soil of Alsace because there are so many, but that’s what gives the variety to the wines as well because actually there are some red wines, but it’s mostly a white wine region. It produces about 18% of all French white wines. So although it’s not a huge region, in terms of white wine it’s very important

H: It’s prolific, that’s a huge percentage isn’t it?

B: It is a lot, it is a lot

H: That’s an awful lot of wine to be produced from one particular area

B: Yes, yes but they’ve got these sort of key grape varieties and they make the wines – there are some sort of blends but most of them are single grape varieties which means you look on the label, you look first of all for Alsace and then you look for your grape varieties. It makes it lovely and simple

H: It’s pretty clear cut from that because a lot of other regions they have really moved into the blending process

B: Exactly

H: But this is an area that’s stayed very much single grape

B: It is and they like to proclaim the grape on the label. It’s great

H: So it does what it says on the tin quite –

B: Exactly

H: Or the bottle in this case! What are the characteristics of the wine, are there generalities that we can talk about when we talk about Alsace wine?

B: Yes I mean there’s the fruit, a real sort of purity of fruit flavours. Then there are some floral – depending on the grape variety – some floral characteristics, particularly in the Riesling, and then there some lovely freshness and acidity, and that’s really important with these flavours we’re talking about, and all these things come from you know this sheltered position right up in the north

H: And a refreshing wine to drink, I presume all year round

B: Exactly, exactly. I mean remember to serve it cool but yes, lovely a great aperitif and as I say brilliant with spicy Asian flavours

H: Alright. Talking of those spicy Asian flavours here we’ve got some fantastic foods and some pairings to go in with all of this, so I know this is something we’re going to be trying out with all of you as well Ching. So looking at the foods we’ve got here, and knowing the description of the wines we’ve got, this is going to be an easy match isn’t it?

A: Oh I mean absolutely, I’m a big fan of Alsace wines, and I think there is something for everyone and you know the thousands or hundreds of dishes that we have in Asian cuisine, you’ll be able to find something that matches and it’s fresh, it’s fruity, it’s aromatic, they’re good quality wines, I’m a big fan and I just can’t wait to try it

H: Well talking of which please do stay with us because coming up next we’re going to be tasting some of those great wines

Break

H: So we’re going to taste some of these great wines that we’ve lined up today from the Alsace region and there’s some, some various different wines and one of them that is the most difficult one for people to pronounce I think, is the Gewurztraminer, is that right?

B: Gewurztraminer

H: Gewurztraminer

B: Yes

H: See even I got it wrong and I’ve tried it a few times

B: Yes well my pronunciation’s not brilliant but it’s like that – it may be the most difficult to pronounce but do you know it’s the easiest to recognise, not just in Alsace wines, it is the easiest to recognise because it’s so aromatic, so powerful. It smells - I mean it smells of all sorts of things and “Gewurz” means spice, so that’s a clue bit it – it smells and tastes of lychees to me. Go for a classic glass with a nice generous size, tulip shape so it just curves in a bit so you can swirl it round and get these lovely aromatics to come out and –

H: If I may I’m just going to pour that straight for you

B: Perfect

H: There we go. And obviously the same for you Ching

A: Thank you

H: So, enough there for us to – it looks bright and –

B: Exactly

H: It’s got a real appetising look to it to start off with

B: Yes pale and crisp and – and then – this is so aromatic, just smell it. Do you get lychees?

H: Yes

A: Instantly

B: Lychees and then a bit of spice and –

H: Oh for the days of scratch and sniff TV because

B: Exactly. But I mean this is a great party trick because you know somebody gives you a glass of wine and you just think mmmm....Gewurztraminer, yes

H: So, so brilliant to be able to do that

B: And it’s very fresh isn’t it?

H: Yes it’s fresh, it’s got –

B: Very light and very fresh. Quite exuberant.

H: Quite summery

B: Yes absolutely, yes

A: I think I get some roses from it

B: Yes that’s right rose petals –

H: Very floral

B: Yes. But sometimes it’s a bit more – it’s lychees but sometimes it’s a bit more sort of even mango and things like that. And then you know lovely freshness

H: Ching just talk us through food that would go with that now because food pairing is so often what people are trying to do right – and you can so easily get it wrong

A: I think so. I mean I just know what I like and in terms of my sort of dishes, you know hot and spicy and really full of flavour in terms of maybe Szechuan dishes, the very, very spicy I think a wine like this really matches it quite well because it’s got that lovely sweetness and that aromaticness and also obviously popular, modern Asian foods where it’s very, very pungent and spicy, hot, salty, you know aromatic, o I really think that something like this

B: Yes

A: Just really, really compliments it so well and I could drink this all day!

H: Yes, yes we might. It’s terrific, it really is. And again when people, if they’re not making Asian food at home, if they’re going out to an Asian restaurant, whatever particular nationality of Asian restaurant it is, people do tend to go for beers and sometimes they go for heavy - red wine might be a mistake but this is the obvious one isn’t it?

A: Yes

B: It is yes and it will go with a variety of dishes which is great, and actually can – as Ching said – it really can handle quite hot spices. I mean there’s nothing going to – you know with a Vindaloo or something, but quite spicy food, Gewurtztraminer’s you know, works really well

A: Yes it’s got that rounded flavour and that sweetness I think

B: Exactly

A: That works really, really well

B: So it’ll go with the dishes that have that sweetness that you know, takes you by surprise sometimes, you know you’re not expecting it

A: Yes it’s definitely one of my favourite wines to match a lot of dishes like Peking duck for example, that plum-based dishes, and yes you know the fruity dishes as well that have a fruit element to it, I’m a big fan

H: I have to say that the aftertaste after it is so pleasing, I mean it’s been 30 seconds, a minute since I had a sip of that wine, but the taste is still in the mouth, it’s really lit up the whole mouth hasn’t it?

B: Yes, I mean there’s a real sort of purity and definition and clarity to Alsace wines

H: Here’s a wine that we really know well in terms of the grape, probably from many years back, which is Riesling.

B: Riesling

H: Riesling,

B: Yes

H: We call it Riesling, and the Riesling again – pronunciation from me. The Riesling wine is a grape that we know from way, way back –

B: Yes

H: And it’s gone through its ups and downs but this is really one of its ups isn’t it?

B: Absolutely and this is, this is dry Riesling. Alsace Riesling is dry. I mean I don’t mean acerbically dry but it’s fruity, it’s floral but it has a mineral character and there’s good acidity so dry and

H: Slightly paler

B: Yes, yes

H: And – there we go. Now what are we looking for off the nose of this?

B: Well slightly flowery, very fresh citrus, more citrus fruits

H: Yes

B: Hint of apple sometimes, sort of green apple and then do you get a sort of mineral, it’s like a stream running over stones. Do you know what I mean that sort of mineral flavour?

B: This sort of comes straight from, you know the vineyards and – not the flavours actually coming out of the soil but the particular places where Riesling’s grown in Alsace

H: Yes in the nicest possible term of earthiness it has that within –

A: Yes

B: Yes

H: It’s mineral – it’s a lovely nose to it

A: And a striking earthiness to it

H: There you go, said it beautifully. In terms of food that’s on the table here Chin, what would we be recommending here from our selection?

A: Well I think this is quite delicate and it’s got that dry sort of finish at the end, I’m getting that note, and it’s so lovely, and it almost cleanses the palette with every mouthful. So you know I think like what we have here is some prawn Har Gow or Shou Gow which are dumplings, I think they would work really well. But I guess that the trick is you need to be careful because some dishes, especially Asian dishes will come with a hot or sour or spicy or sweet sauce, but the wonderful thing is that the character of the wine, you know it really, really works well in general, the Alsace wines. You know with these flavours, so you can’t really go wrong

B: Yes. The Riesling’s good with Soy isn’t it, with salty flavours of soy as well as

H: Yes

B: Sour flavours, yes

H: But you’re right about that cleansing of the palette, it’s almost refreshing on every mouthful

A: Yes every mouthful

H: It’s giving a great deal; it’s really a very tasty wine

A: I think something like this with crab or shellfish or even tuna sashimi would be really really well

H: Yes

B: And I wondered about dealing with the wasabi – it’s probably - do you think it might cope with the wasabi?

A: Well –

B: No you don’t think so?

A: Wasabi –

B: Give it a try

A: Yes I think so, give it a try. It’s all very experimental and it depends what you like, but yes I’m sure it will work really well, yes

H: That is so going to disappear by the time this show is over! That’s a very, very pleasing wine. Now in terms of temperature before we move on, with this and the other ones, you said, obviously remember to chill or to cool it –

B: Yes

H: Beforehand. How far do you go, or is there no limit to how far you can chill a wine?

B: Oh you can over-chill it, if you over-chill it you actually won’t really smell or taste anything. Well you’ll smell still but you won’t taste much. You numb it really. Just in the same way that ice cream numbs your pallet

H: Alright, well that’s two of the wines done. We’re going to go onto the Pinot Gris which is now, the Alsace Pinot Gris which is actually a 2008. This is the reserve. What should we looking for in that?

B: Well Pinot Gris is quite – is quite powerful in the same way that Gewurtztraminer is – it’s quite aromatic but it’s not quite so spicy. So it has lots of fruit. It sometimes has a slightly smoky quality so that may be what you’d look out for. Or a slight sort of nuttiness, but it’s rounded and – but fresh again. It’s a bit more powerful than Riesling. Riesling’s got a bit higher acidity, I’d put it that way

H: Oh right. And we’ll notice a distinct difference between this and the last two

B: I think we’ll find this – we’ll find this richer. We’ll find this richer than the Riesling, yes. And not – not quite so exuberantly aromatic as the Gewurtztraminer.

H: That one’s been pretty well chilled, I can tell from the label

B: Yes it’s quite perfumey but there’s a slight nuttiness, slight smokiness – do you get that

H: Distinct difference to the last two, yes

A: Yes I get – exactly that, nuttiness. It’s the right word

B: Sometimes it’s that sort of nougat to me –

H: Yes, yes

B: Do you know what I mean?

H: Gosh I haven’t had nougat for years, the old fashioned bars that you break open –

B: Yes exactly. They’re sweet but they’ve got sort of nuts, you know

H: That is a brilliant description

B: Almost honey, almost honey. But then it’s dry. That’s actually sometimes what happens with Alsace wines, they smell. You think smell sweet, you taste it and it’s dry and refreshing or just off dry

H: That’s my favourite of all so far. I mean I like the other two but that is super. You were right though, it gives the nose as they say, it gives that smell of very sweet honey. You taste it; it’s really got a sharp refreshingness

B: Yes it’s got sort of orchard fruit hasn’t it?

A: I can’t decide which is my favourite so far

H: All of them

A: All of them

B: Exactly

A: But no this is, this is absolutely delicious and with that nuttiness I’m thinking and that smokiness, with dishes like Cha su pork, which are roast pork, slightly sweet and you know little bit nutty. Yes I think that would go really, really well yes

H: That’s a good shout, yes I think that pork dish and this. People will be coming to some of these wines for the first time, and I think that as you rightly said before people are coming without any baggage or previous knowledge whatsoever. And will they be surprised, do you think people are going to be pleasantly surprised by what they’re getting here?

B: I think they are, because you know there is fruit and there is this purity, I keep saying this, this clarity, this definition which is lovely. You haven’t got the oak, you haven’t got the tannin, you haven’t got all those difficult things, you’ve just got fruit, the freshness, the aromas

H: And it’s got plenty of strengths in terms of allowing you to compliment it as we’ve been discussing, and we’ve gone from a screw top to a cork bottle and – which I suppose there’s a mixture of both available from Alsace?

B: Yes exactly, exactly. We are increasingly seeing screw caps in fact. You know they do keep the wine fresh, they preserve it, those lovely aromatics and –

H: And the whole method’s been oh no no no you’ve got to have a proper cork in it, a screw cap is an inferior wine, but that’s not exactly true –

B: No it’s not; no I mean definitely not the case. Screw cap is a very good closure for, particularly for aromatic white wines. That’s so pale isn’t it?

H: It’s a good job I’m ambidextrous, I can tell you that. I can pour with the right and the left hand

A: You did that very well

H: Plenty of years of practice Chin, plenty of years of practice

B: So this is going to be a little bit more delicate, it’s aromatic but it’s not quite so in-your-face as some of the others. So it is fresh and it’s got a slight apple character and sort of perfumed. Do you know sometimes I think of talcum powder when I – just that slight sort of perfumey –

H: Yes

B: But it’s a little bit more delicate than some of the others. So if you were eating food that was – that you knew was Asian but a little bit more delicate you might go with this. But it’s also a brilliant aperitif

H: This is a welcoming drink for anyone isn’t it?

A: Yes absolutely

H: You’ve just arrived, you’re outdoors, you’re pouring a glass of this, everyone’s going to have a smile on their face

A: Absolutely and –

B: Just a hint of spice there isn’t there, but just the most delicate, just the most delicate. And then fresh. It’s fresh isn’t it, it finishes fresh, clean. You can always have another glass of this couldn’t you?

H: It may well happen

A: Or ten!

H: Chin in food terms here; let’s just bring in some foods to this. I know it’s very difficult because a lot of these wines will go with a lot of these different foods, but is there something you could see yourself serving with this wine?

A: I think like some sashimi but very, very light. Maybe some swordfish sashimi

H: Ah yes

A: Or scallops sashimi. You know just lightly spiced, not too heavy. I think there’ll be very, very refreshing. But even something like you know we have edamame beans, you know anything like asparagus, something light and sweet and delicate like a Kai Wai, in Mandarin we say Kai Wai, just opening the taste buds

H: Yes

A: And this is such a - this is such a gorgeous wine for that

H: Love this wine. You know the trouble is every time I taste one -

B: I know

H: I like it more than the last one, but then I go round and try them all again they’re all going to taste different again

B: I have that trouble all the time!

H: Great characteristics and each one of these wines, all from one region but so different

B: So different, exactly

H: But this is the importance of the single grape isn’t it?

B: Yes exactly, exactly I mean they do make some blends but you just – it’s the grape variety that speaks. It’s fantastic

A: It’s beautiful

H: Stunning wine, absolutely stunning wine. We have finally and this is going to be a comedy moment so I’m going to clear the decks for this one, we have a sparkling wine

B: Oh yes that’s right, cremant d’Alsace. Something special

H: And you know, dare I say this an alternative and a less expensive alternative perhaps to Champagne?

B: Well that’s true, in terms of fruit matching though they taste – Cremant d’Alsace, it will taste dry and fruity but in fact technically or on the analysis it will be slightly sweeter than most Champagne and actually will go better with the food

H: And I think t here’s a bigger market as well. We’ll come to the food in a second but I think for a lot of people –

B: We absolutely love bubbles in this country, we really do. Very good

H: That was close

B: Excellent

A: Well done

H: Though as we said before Riesling, as a grape,

B: Yes so fruity, floral, but with a steely character. Very good acidity which always helps with – that’s what you need with sparkling wines actually, you need a wine with good acidity and this sort of slightly mineral character

H: Again –

B: Bit of – bit of lime zest

A: Lime yes

B: Bit of lime on this one

A: It’s very zesty this one –

B: That’s another – yes

H: Lime – I’m already thinking about a beautifully seared bit of tuna

B: Yes, yes

H: With possibly a bit of lime and chilli butter sauce -

A: I’m there with you

H: That’s – that’s the lines, the griddling – ah

A: Even a prawn – prawns and pomello salad even

H: You’re making me so hungry looking at all this. But that’s a very, very pleasing wine. It’s not too bubbly and some wines that you get –

B: No because it’s – the bubbles are fine, yes. It’s when the bubbles are kind of big and coarse that you get –

H: That fizz in your mouth

B: Your mouth is going to explode. Not with this. But it gives a bit of texture which, when you’re matching it to food that’s good. You’ve got an extra element, so to deal with your sort of spices and things like that

A: Yes I find that the Riesling is very pleasant – pleasantly cleansing on the pallet so it allows you with every bite and every mouthful of food to kind of revisit that

B: Yes exactly

A: And have that wonderful flavours

B: Yes, yes

A: It’s wonderful

H: Well that is a tremendous wine. We’re going to leave that on the table there. We’ve been enjoying some fantastic wines and matching them with some great foods, but of course don’t go anywhere because your questions are coming next

Break

H: Well our first question comes from Emma, Emma thank you very much indeed for your question and it’s a question to both of you really – which wine would you choose to go well with chilli, and I’m presuming chilli dishes and dishes with a strong flavour to them. And you can get so many variants of chillies these days as well

A: Yes

H: From the very hot to the very mild. But is there a wine that you can pinpoint?

B: I would probably go for the Gewurtztraminer first of all. I mean it does depend what else is there but in terms of – would you go for Gewurtztraminer? Yes?

A: I – for Szechuan cooking with a lot of chilli, lot of flavour, pungency and that numbing spice, because I love Szechuan cooking, absolutely Gewurtztraminer there. And I think it also depends on the balance of dishes and what you’ve got going hasn’t it?

B: Yes, what else is there?

A: Because if that is, if most of the meal is heavily spiced, I think Gewurtztraminer is definitely the one to go for

H: Unanimous decision there Emma thank you very much for your question. Let’s go onto Anthony’s question, Anthony’s just saying about grape varieties. He likes seafood, he likes fish dishes particularly. Is there one of these grape varieties that would just point fish straight away?

B: Well I would say that – Riesling and Pinot Blanc but with Asian food it depends not on, not just on you know the main protein ingredient, it depends on the spices, so you know if it was a really spicy fish, hot chilli fish dish, whatever the fish but lots of chilli, I would go for the Gewurtz again

A: Again yes

B: But as a – in terms of the fish itself I would say that probably the first two choices would be Riesling and Pinot Blanc, but then look at what else is there –

H: You start breaking down between fish and shellfish as well

A: Exactly

H: Because shellfish particularly in Asian food is just such a fab – squid

A: Ah squid yes, salty –

H: Doesn’t fit into the shellfish - salted squid

A: Salted squid yes I think would go well with the Riesling because –

B: I was just going to say yes

A: You have the sour of the Riesling yes

B: Yes it goes exactly with the salt

A: Yes

H: And then one of my favourites of all, crab

A: Ah crab yes. Just – just

H: Having this with crab

A: I’m there, I’m there – I think

B: Crab has a sweetness

A: Yes

B: Actually then you can think about things like Pinot Gris, even Gewurtztraminer with crab because of the sweetness inherited in the crab in fact. Although it’s quite delicate

A: Yes like you say you can compliment or you can contrast so if the dish is very, very light something maybe from southern regions of Asia, like Cantonese-style cooking, I think Riesling or Pinot Blanc, absolutely

H: Some good suggestions then, thank you again Anthony for your question. Nick, question from Nick, thank you very much indeed for your question, and the question here is regarding the alcohol content. How strong are these wines from this region?

B: Oh right, they’re medium, they’re mostly 12.5 or 13 so it depends – Pinot Blanc and Riesling tend to be 12.5 – Gewurtztraminer and Pinot Gris more likely to be 13, so they’re right in the middle. They’re not too heavy they’re not too light, absolutely straight down the line

H: And because of their refreshing – the chances are you’re going to be enjoying this wine in terms of - its texture is light so it’ll probably make you want to have another glass of it as we’ve discussed already

A: Oh absolutely

H: So medium alcohol is probably the right thing?

B: Yes exactly, exactly

H: Alright I think we’re – we’ve got one final question coming in and this is a question from Tom and he wants to know where can we get this wine from? Where – it sounds great, loves it, where do I get the wine from?

B: Absolutely everywhere, you know every supermarket, every retailer will have some Alsace wines, so depending how they do their layouts in their shops, most shops still go by region in which case you just look for France, look for Alsace. If they’re arranging things by style and grape variety then they’ll probably be under – if style – aromatic whites or fresh fruity whites, so those would be the style things to look out for. But they’re everywhere

H: And that’s all the time we have. If you want more information then of course you can log onto alsacewines.co.uk. Thank you very much indeed to Joanna, thank you very much indeed Chin and for you Cheers!